Proper Spec Format for New Writers

When it comes to the actual words on the page, it occurs to me new writers face quite a few different problems than pros, but not all new writers know this.

A great way to learn how to write professional screenplays is to read lots of screenplays written by professionals. Just be careful which lessons you're gleaning from a particular screenplay, because pros break a lot of rules new writer's simply can't. If you're unaware of that fact, reading those pro screenplays could lead you astray instead of closer to writing a sellable spec.

For example, though there are unspoken limits, pro writers are able to write using much more black ink than a pre-pro. Pros can afford to fill a few pages with ink, because they have proven track records. Therefore readers trust if there's lots of black on the page, the pro has good reason for doing so. Not the case with new writers. We haven't earned that trust yet.

So what are we to do when we have entire pages with no dialogue, few or no "Cut To"s or new slug lines and lots of action to describe? After all, film is a descriptive medium, better to show than tell, right? Part of the point of a screenplay format is to make for a quick, easy read. If there's lots of description for the reader to wade through, the read becomes long & laborious, which is a great way to piss off a reader. So how do new writers deal with the conundrum of showing - not telling through dialogue - yet needing to have ample white space on the page?

Solutions: is there anywhere you can make a natural page indent? Can you put a "Cut To" anywhere, a new slug line for a mini-location or is there any character dialogue you can slip in? Remember, the dialogue must be justifiable - as must new slug lines - but there's usually something your character(s) can say about whatever current situation you've put them in. I'm not suggesting some cheap exclamation like "Oh, shit" or "Uh-huh", be creative.

Also, you have pages before and after your problem page. Figure out ways to shorten your description lines on the problem page until it forces lines on the previous/following pages to transfer onto your problem page. For example, if there's a line of dialogue or a scene transition at the top of the next page, shorten the descriptions on your problem page until that dialogue or transition is pulled up to your problem page.

Look for any "orphans", single words that take up an entire line because the sentence you've written is too long to fit on one line. Find new descriptive words or a new way to write your line until the sentence is short enough for the orphan to disappear.
There are other tricks - again, just be creative - but large blocks of black ink on a spec script is a sure sign of an amateur. If you have an entire page of just scene description or action lines, it is imperative you find ways to break up that page.

Another rule I follow is every scene/action block must take up no more space on the page than four lines, and even four lines is pushing it. I try to keep all my description/action blocks limited to one, two or maybe three lines. That way a reader's eyes are naturally drawn down the page, making for an easy, quick read. I've heard this called "vertical writing". If I reach that four line mark, I look back at my paragraph to see if there's any way to shorten it or create a natural break into two separate paragraphs.

I'm sure you've read - or will read - some pro scripts that have four, five, six or more descriptive lines to a paragraph (check out some Tarantino, Wachowski, Eric Roth or J.P. Shanley scripts). Again, be careful what you glean from reading such scripts. They're usually great for breaking down how a master works with story structure, theme, rhythm, pacing, character development, etc., but they're terrible examples of screenplay format for newbie writers to emulate.
If you look at who wrote them, almost 100% of the time you'll find they were written by well-established writers, or writer/directors, i.e. the writer is writing with the intent of directing the screenplay him/herself. They are "names" in the biz already, they've already proven their talent and marketability, and therefore are allowed a certain degree of leeway. Once you've had a few sales and produced specs, you can loosen up on some of those rules too. Until then, your pages must always look uncluttered, simple and clean. In a word, inviting to a reader. I'm doing everything I can to make that happen... are you?